June 12, 2013
1 July 2013 ACFI Changes
Hello Everyone,
As you may have read recently, DoHA have just announced more Aged Care Funding Instrument (ACFI) changes commencing from 1 July 2013.
The changes will be made through amendments to the ACFI User Guide and ACFI Answer Appraisal Pack. These changes are designed to reinforce the original intent of the ACFI and further enhance the evidence requirements.
The changes have been developed in consultation with sector representatives through the ACFI Monitoring Group and its sub-group the ACFI Technical Reference Group.
What are the changes?
1. Behaviour Domain – Questions 7 (Wandering), 8 (Verbal Behaviour) and 9 (Physical Behaviour):
The ACFI User Guide and ACFI Answer Appraisal Pack will be updated to reflect an increase in the frequency of problem behaviours required to support a claim of a B or above.
In questions 7 (Wandering), 8 (Verbal behaviour) and 9 (Physical behaviour) where there is a claim of a B rating or higher, the wording in the ACFI User Guide will be changed from behaviour “occurs at least once per week” to “occurs on at least two days per week”. The claims are required to be supported by the behaviour record and accurately reflect the behavioural needs of the resident.
2. Complex Health Care Domain – Pain Management
Changes in the wording will be made to questions 12.3, 12.4a and 12.4b in the ACFI User Guide and ACFI Answer Appraisal pack to include the requirement of an evidence-based pain assessment to support the claims made.
Specific assessment tools will not be mandated. The Department will provide access to recommended evidence based assessment tools through the ACFI webpage at (www.health.gov.au/acfi). . These include: the Modified Resident Verbal Brief Pain Inventory (M-RVBPI); the Abbey Pain Scale; and the Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia Scale (PAINAD) as contained in the Australian Pain Society’s Pain in Residential Care Facilities: Management Strategies: The Pain Management Guide (PMG) Kit for Aged Care.
3. Changes to the ACFI User Guide and ACFI Answer Appraisal pack to prevent incongruent claiming in ACFI 2 (Mobility) and ACFI 7 (Wandering).
Generally, a claim of D in ACFI 2 (Mobility) would not be accompanied by a D in ACFI 7 (Wandering). When a high care requirement (D) in ACFI 2 (Mobility) and a high care requirement (D) in ACFI 7 (Wandering) are claimed simultaneously, the service provider must retain evidence to support the claims.
The ACFI User Guide and Answer Appraisal pack will include additional wording with the intention of reminding providers of the evidence requirements for a claim of this type.
When will the changes be implemented?
The changes will apply to any appraisal completed on or after 1 July 2013. An updated ACFI User Guide and ACFI Answer Appraisal Pack are available on the ACFI webpage at (www.health.gov.au/acfi).
What do approved providers have to do?
From 1 July 2013, when you complete an ACFI appraisal, you will need to refer to the new ACFI User Guide and complete the new ACFI Answer Appraisal Pack.
While approved providers will be required to comply with the new arrangements from 1 July 2013, complying with these requirements is not inconsistent with current arrangements and approved providers may wish to ensure their processes meet these requirements prior to the implementation date.
May 15, 2013
Are you ready to go paperless?
Hello Everyone,
This is the dream.
The day when there are no more papers to sort through that have mounted up in your ‘In’ tray, gone are the rows of folders where someone has the full-time job of using a 2 hole-punch and putting papers away and where signed documents no longer sit in row after row of filing cabinets.
With the introduction of software systems for clinical management and administration, payroll and rostering, accounts and medication management this dream is slowly becoming a reality. Many organisations are well on the road to achieving this and have significantly cut their environmental footprint by reducing the number printed documents.
Aged care is probably behind many other industries with a lot of items still required to be on paper and I don’t believe we are living yet in the ‘Paperless office of the future’ that appeared in an issue of BusinessWeek back in June 30, 1975…but there is still hope.
Adobe who brought us the Portable Document Format (PDF) back in 1993 has recently released a study, “Paper: An Endangered Species?“, around digital business processes and paper. While this was not specifically on aged care it is interesting.
According to the study, the majority of the managers surveyed had overwhelmingly negative attitudes toward traditional paper-based processes and cite productivity, security, attracting talent and going green as the benefits of a completely digital workflow.
“Printers, scanners, and fax machines are killing business productivity,” commented Jon Perera, vice president, EchoSign, Adobe. “Successful organizations are quickly moving towards paperless-based approaches for their critical business processes. This is about driving revenue, cutting costs, improving security, and reducing environmental impact.”
The study reveals that paper can be a hindrance to productivity as more than one-half of managers believe that digital approaches simplify work, are easy to use and allow them to be more efficient. Further, companies slow to adopt fully digital practices are at a disadvantage when it comes to growing their businesses and ultimately attracting new customers.
- 51% of respondents said that a digital workflow makes filing and managing documents easier;
- 61% of managers said working digitally saves on costs;
- 32% said a digital workflow is more efficient, giving them an edge with client work and ultimately helps win new business.
The study also points out a growing attitude that it’s more prestigious to work for a company that is committed to go digital:
- 76% of respondents said they are impressed by companies that have a strong digital presence;
- 71% said they wish their company was more digital;
- 68% said that it is important for a company to operate mostly electronically versus on paper when they are deciding where to work.
Paper impacts the trust that businesses have with partners, vendors and customers. The research showed that this was especially true when it comes to the sanctity of contracts, the heart of business agreements and commercial transactions:
- More than two-thirds believe that paper-based contracts are prone to defacing;
- 60% of managers believe that password-protected electronic documents are more secure than paper documents locked in a safe;
- 56% cited the fear of losing a paper document as the top “con” of using paper.
As with most studies these days there is also a fancy Infographic to go with this. “Paper: An Endangered Species? - Infographic
So how close are you to going paperless?
Ben Sturzaker
Operations Manager
May 14, 2013
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mum’s, from everyone at Management Advantage.
We hope you had a nice day on Sunday May 12th.
April 15, 2013
Are you still running Windows XP?
Hello Everyone,
The countdown has begun!
April 8 2014 is the day Microsoft will cease support for its extremely popular operating system (OS), Windows XP. At this time Microsoft will have supported Windows XP for nearly 12 years.
I’m sure many of you reading this are still running XP on your PC at work and/or home? Many of you will also have multiple workstations throughout you aged care homes on XP.
Find more information here: Windows XP Support Ends
With less than 12 months to go what does this mean?
When the 8th April 2014 comes around and you still haven’t upgraded, the world will not end. Your PC(s) running XP will continue to function as they have and you will not see any difference.
With Microsoft ceasing support and by choosing to not upgrade this will mean however you will be using their OS ‘at your own risk’.
Should you be concerned?
Yes and no. As many of you will be aware Microsoft has a well-known update cycle known as ‘Patch Tuesday’. Patch Tuesday is the second Tuesday of each month, on which Microsoft regularly releases security patches for vulnerabilities in their different software products. For each day that goes by, once support for XP expires, it will mean there ‘could’ be new vulnerabilities that your PC will be exposed to with no patches/update from Microsoft to fix it.
What to do next?
With all the issues Windows had with its OS that followed XP, Windows Vista, I can understand the reluctance to change. Most IT departments were more than happy to stay on XP for as long as possible.
If you want to ensure your PC(s) remain protected (patched) there are 2 choices:
Windows 7 has been a completely different story to the Vista experience, a much more positive story without the issues. The interface of the OS is not too different to XP so it will be familiar for you and your staff to navigate when required.
Windows 8 on the other hand, while also not having the issues Vista did, it has definitely divided users. Microsoft have attempted to build a single OS for all devices (PC’s to tablets to phones) to keep the user experience the same. The touch experience of a tablet and phone is very different to that of a desktop PC so many users were not impressed that they removed the traditional ’start’ button and have given users the new tiled start interface.
I have been the guinea pig in our office and have been using Windows 8 for many months now. While it does take some getting used to without having the ‘start’ button I have found it to be not as big a deal as much of the media have made it out to be.
In saying that I class myself as a reasonably good computer user, would I update all my XP PC’s to Windows 8 for my care staff? …I’m not sure yet.
As you now enter budget time for the 2013/2014 year and whatever you choose to do, upgrade to Windows 7, upgrade to Windows 8 or do nothing and stay on XP, have a plan in place as the clock is ticking…
Ben Sturzaker
Operations Manager
March 21, 2013
Is your password really secure?
Hello Everyone,
As some of you may have read recently, in various articles online, the very popular note-storing service Evernote, revealed it had been the subject of hacking attacks.
They indicted there was no evidence any stored notes and content was accessed, but that some user information, including passwords and emails were.
See the Evernote response here: Evernote Security Notice
The passwords at Evernote were encrypted (and for the technical people, hashed and salted), but they still issued a site-wide password reset. This meant all users were required to set a new password and were advised to log-in as soon as possible to do so. Obviously they were not that confident their encryption was going to work.
Hackers have also recently gained access to both Sony and the ABC.
Which poses the question, Is your password really secure?
If your password is not secure then is your data? With so many things now accessed online and information stored ‘in the cloud’ we all have so many passwords to remember…or do we?
What generally happens is people revert to what is ‘easy’ which includes family names, pets, key dates, hobbies and a variety of predictable words. While having a ‘simple’ (read: weak) password which is memorable and makes it easy to recall, they are also predictable for those targeting online sites with weak security and a big database of users.
The problem with ‘weak’ passwords
Most people struggle with ‘strong’ password because they revert to things that are easily memorable. These things may be in a pure form such as someone’s name, a date of birth, or a key place from their life or they may be a memorable keyboard patterns such as ‘qwerty’ or ’123456′.
You would be amazed at how many people still use as their password: password or abc123.
Password dictionaries are commonly available to professional hackers, as is the software to run them against the breached database. Did you know a hacker can test up to 400,000 passwords per second with the right equipment?
So how do you make a password as ‘strong’ as possible?
If it is short or doesn’t contain sufficient variations in characters, the number of attempts required to guess it are going to be much lower.
To create a ‘strong’ password you are best to use different character types such as uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and punctuation. Also, try not to use the same password over and over as even if the pattern might seem unpredictable, once it’s known to work on one site, you are potentially going to have a problem with ever other site.
So to do what you can to stay protected (as best as possible), always make passwords ‘strong’, unpredictable and different across all sites you use.
Ben Sturzaker
Operations Manager
February 25, 2013
Are you currently double handling your resident and billing information in multiple systems?
If you are, it may be time to have a look at the Manad Plus Bond & Billing Module.
Our Finance module handles all your resident billing and accommodation bond management needs.
Each billing period, with just one click, the module creates all the resident’s charges (Basic Daily Care Fee, Income Tested Fee, Accommodation Charges, Extra Services, Periodic Payments, etc.).
Ad-hoc sundry charges can be created to appear on the fortnightly/monthly invoice and families that choose to pay by direct debit can have invoices deducted automatically. The system will generate the .ABA file so you can simply upload this to your financial institution.
All information regarding the resident’s bond agreement can be created and stored, allowing you to:
- generate a variety of useful reports
- track bond position/liquidity, and
- produce prudential compliance reporting.
Other key features:
- a dashboard to see an overview of what has occurred, and
- bond analysis to see all your bond agreements at once
If you have not seen our main manad plus module which handles all your administration, clinical and management needs then this new module may be of great interest to you. Now all your resident/client information can be managed from the one program, no more double handling of information.
Contact us on 1300 MANAD2 (1300 62 62 32) or email info@manad.com.au to book a demonstration.
NOTE: We are currently working on further features to this area so it will also manage your Retirement Village/Independent Living Units billing and ingoing contributions.
February 10, 2013
Happy Chinese New Year for February 10th from everyone at Management Advantage.
2013 is the year of the snake.
Those born in the following years have the snake as their Chinese zodiac sign:
1905, 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013.
January 22, 2013
ACFI Changes
Many of you will already be aware of the ACFI changes the Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) have made.
ACFI appraisals completed from February 1 2013 need to use the updated documents and terminology.
Follow the links below to download the updated documents from the DoHA website:
Those not familiar with the changes, they are:
Activities of Daily Living Domain – Questions 1-4
1 – The ACFI User Guide and ACFI Answer Appraisal Pack will be revised to include the words “assessed need” into the guidelines for questions 1-4.
Questions 1-4 of the ACFI refer to a range of activities for which supervision or physical assistance may be provided to a resident. It has always been a requirement that these items are only claimable where a resident has a need for the level of assistance being provided.
As described in the ACFI User Guide, ACFI assessments need to accurately portray the “related day-to-day high frequency need for care” at the time of assessment rather than what the person’s needs may be in the future.
This change will reinforce this requirement within the ACFI User Guide and Answer Appraisal Pack.
2 – The ACFI User Guide and ACFI Answer Appraisal Pack will restate the wording on page five of the ACFI User Guide that makes it clear that physical assistance refers to assistance throughout the specified activity.
It is already a requirement that a claim for physical assistance should relate to a need for physical assistance throughout the specified activity.
The change to the ACFI User Guide and Answer Appraisal Pack is intended to reinforce this requirement for approved providers when making claims.
3 – The ACFI User Guide will be revised to require approved providers to record the outcomes of evidence based assessments used to support completion of checklists within the claiming documentation held at the service, and produce these assessments as required for validation purposes.
Approved providers are already required to base their claims in questions 1 to 4 on a contemporaneous assessment or assessment conducted in the previous six months (see page nine of the User Guide).
This change will require approved providers to include this information within the completed ACFI Answer Appraisal Pack. For approved providers that store their documentation electronically, this information may also be stored electronically. It should be immediately available with other supporting documentation at time of review.
Specific assessment tools will not be mandated. However, the Department will make available information about recommended assessments that may be used.
Complex Health Care – Pain Management
1 – The ACFI User Guide will be revised to change the frequency requirement for complex pain management under question 12-4b from “at least four times per week” to “at least four days per week”.
It has always been the intention of the ACFI that funding for the complex pain management question 12-4b should recognise complex pain management sessions conducted over four days per week.
However, the Department has become aware that in some circumstances claims have been made where four sessions occur on three or fewer days.
This change will align the payment of complex pain management sessions to its original intent.
2 – Question 12.4b: The ACFI User Guide and Answer Appraisal Pack will be revised to clarify the requirement that consistent ongoing treatment must be provided as required by the resident.
The intention of claims under question 12.4b is to provide treatment to residents with conditions which require ongoing intervention to manage their pain, supported by a pain assessment. This is already reflected on page 36 of the User Guide which states that question 12 relates to the assessed need for ongoing complex health care procedures and activities. It is not intended for use with residents with transient episodes of pain requiring treatment.
This change will reinforce the intent of this question.
This information can be found at: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/ageing-mailfax-2012-2012.htm
December 20, 2012
The release notes for the next version of manad plus (v4.12.12) and manad plus bond and billing (v1.12.12) are now available for download.
Clients will have been sent this link but please contact the help desk on 1300 62 62 32 or email support@manad.com.au if you did not receive this.
December 10, 2012
From all the staff at Management Advantage we would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.
Thank you for your continued support in 2012 and we look forward to working with many of you in 2013 as we assist in optimising your homes ACFI subsidies and continue to develop manad plus even further.
Our office will only be closed on the public holidays, Tuesday 25th and Wednesday 26th December 2012 and Tuesday 1st January 2013.
